


With Everything I Am

by hivecaptor



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Cecil is a Good Husband, Comfort No Hurt, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic, Whump, carlos has an immune deficiency, emetophobia warning, minimal hurt, sick, stomach bug, stomach flu, they're still married because i love the dynamic, vomit warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24251515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hivecaptor/pseuds/hivecaptor
Summary: Cecil sat beside him and pulled him to his chest, a wordless promise that it would all be better soon, that the doctors would take care of him, and that he would be back in fighting- er- researching trim in no time at all.Carlos settled into his embrace, wrapping still-shaky arms around his husband's waist. "Thank you, Cecil.""Of course. My lovely Carlos, I'm always here."
Relationships: Carlos/Cecil Palmer
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	With Everything I Am

Cecil turned his key in the lock, hearing that familiar click as the door swung open to let him into an empty house. He set his briefcase on the kitchen counter and looked around, frowning. Carlos was usually home around five o'clock, a few hours before Cecil himself, but the house was still vacant despite a couple of the lights being on. After a moment, he simply shrugged and supposed that Carlos was just working late, he had started a new project around a week ago.

Then he heard the coughing.

Cecil turned in the direction of the sound. It was Carlos, undoubtedly. Where was he? He coughed again and Cecil immediately headed for the master bedroom.

Carlos had gotten sick before, many times. His mother had a weak immune system which she unfortunately seemed to have passed along to her son, but of all of the times that Carlos had come down with some illness or another, he had never looked like this. 

Carlos didn't even seem to hear Cecil enter the bathroom. He was on his knees, stripped of both his glasses and signature white coat, and sat slumped over the toilet bowl, holding onto the seat for dear life. His hair was plastered to his sweaty forehead and he retched again, knuckles going white where he gripped the porcelain. He didn't acknowledge Cecil's presence, even as he dropped to his knees beside him on the bathroom floor.

Cecil placed a hand on the small of Carlos's back and rubbed gentle circles through his cotton undershirt, waiting patiently as he got everything out that he could. After a few moments, he took a great, shuddering breath and looked up, all bleary-eyed and pale. "Ceece?"

He smiled gently. "Hi, love. Not feeling too good?"

Carlos shook his head and looked down. His bottom lip began to quiver when he turned back to his husband. "I'm sorry, I'm so-"

"Shh." Cecil pulled Carlos to his chest, running a hand protectively over his hair. "Don't apologize."

Carlos sighed and kept silent, doing nothing but lie limp in Cecil's arms. After a moment, he spoke again. "Cecil, I," His voice shook and he had started breathing harder, clutching the rumpled dress shirt that the other man wore. "I think-" 

He tried to sit up, but his arms trembled, unable to support his weight, and he fell back into his husband's lap. "Hey, I've got you. You need help?" Carlos nodded. "Okay, alright." Cecil helped him to a sitting position as he heaved again, and pulled his damp curls to the base of his neck. Even after he had slipped the purple rubber band from his wrist and wrapped it around the untidy bun, he kept his hand on the back of Carlos's neck, rubbing lightly with his thumv, just to let him know that he was there, that it was going to be over soon. He wished he could trade places with his husband, anything to keep him from this much pain.

But even after twenty minutes, the coughing and retching hadn't abated. He looked shakier by the minute and had shifted to fully clinging to his husband every time he needed to stay upright. Cecil had brought Carlos everything he could think of to help, from water to Gatorade to his anti-nausea prescription, but he couldn't even keep water down long enough for the medication to help. He had no idea how long Carlos had been sick before he had come home, and Cecil wasn't able to ask him, because at this point, the only things that he could manage were warnings to him if he was going to vomit again, or shaky apologies for ruining the bathroom floor. No matter how many times Cecil had told him it was alright, that he didn't need to be sorry, he wouldn't stop apologizing.

Cecil just stayed with him after that, murmuring soothing words even as he grew more worried. Finally, he said what he had been thinking for the past few minutes. "We need to get you to Nightvale General, love." Carlos opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, what little color was lef drained from his face and he lurched towards the toilet again. Nothing came up, and he sobbed as his stomach started to cramp. It had been going on for so long, even in just the time that he had been home that Cecil couldn't imagine how much it was starting to hurt him. 

"I can't. Cecil, I need to stay home."

"I promise it's going to feel so much better. You're dehydrated, at least they can give you fluids there."

Carlos shook his head. "I don't like needles."

"Carlos." Cecil looked at him, pleading.

He slumped over the toilet bowl, defeated. "Fi- fine. I just want it to be over."

"I know, love, I know. Can you stand?

Carlos laughed weakly. "I can try."

"Alright." Cecil wrapped an arm around his husband's waist and helped him to his feet. Carlos held tightly to his shirt. He managed to stay upright for a few moments, but his legs soon gave out, and he landed hard on his hip, almost dragging Cecil down with him. He hissed at the pain, but Cecil just wrapped his arms around his shoulders and held him tight for a moment before speaking again. "Okay." He ran a hand through his disheveled white hair. "Okay, so that's not going to work. Carlos, I think I'm just going to need to carry you to get you down the stairs."

"Cecil, I-" Carlos protested, but Cecil already had a firm grip on his thighs and hoisted him up with surprising strength. Carlos gasped and wrapped his legs around his husband's waist as tightly as he could manage, and crossed his arms behind Cecil's neck.

Carlos rested his head on his husband's shoulder as he murmured soothing words into his ear. He was putty in his arms. It just felt so good to be held, because as long as Cecil was there, he was okay.

Cecil adjusted his grip and Carlos tensed. For a moment, he thought he was going to throw up again, but he only let out a soft sound of pain at the sudden movement. Cecil sighed guiltily. The jostle must have made his nausea worse as well. "I'm sorry, love." Carlos just shivered and held on tighter. When they managed to get out of the house and to the car, with some clever maneuvering, Cecil opened the door and settled his husband on the backseat. "Lie down if you can, okay?"

Carlos only nodded and settled on his side, arms crossed over his stomach. A second wave of the pain and nausea had hit him, like it did whenever he caught a stomach bug, and he looked small and frail lying on the back seat. His face was pale and his whole body shook with silent, dry sobs of pain, having no water to spare for real tears. He had curled in on himself enough that Cecil could slip in beside him for just a moment and pull the tie from his hair. Carlos's shaking seemed to calm ever-so-slightly with the feeling of his husband running a gentle hand over his curls to smooth them out, and binding the hair back up more carefully, so it was better kept out of his face. Cecil was so overwhelmed, he could at least do this for Carlos, right?

He ran a hand across his forehead. "We'll be there soon, my lovely Carlos. You'll be okay."

When thy arrived at Nightvale General Hospital, Carlos blinked in the bright lights, trying to adjust. Cecil had managed to fish an NVCR jacket from under boxes in the trunk, and he had donned it after dry-heaving onto the asphalt of the parking lot in an effort to look slightly more presentable. Cecil watched him for a moment before digging in his pockets and pulling out a pair of glasses with thick black frames. They were Carlos's old ones, but they felt like a blessing in the bright room that he could hardly see.

Cecil scratched the back of his neck. "They were the only ones I could grab before leaving, your other pair-"

"Ceece, you angel," he said, taking the glasses and putting them on. He was feeling slightly more stable by the time his husband had settled him on the garish artificial leather waiting room couch. He still had to lean heavily on the arm of it while Cecil spoke to the receptionist. The nausea had somewhat eased, but he was still woozy when Cecil returned with a stack of paperwork and a crinkly green sick bag. He kept the paperwork for himself and handed the sick bag to Carlos, who just set it aside. He had been right back at home, there was nothing left that could come out. 

Cecil sat beside him and pulled him to his chest, a wordless promise that it would all be better soon, that the doctors would take care of him, and that he would be back in fighting- er- researching trim in no time at all.

Carlos settled into his embrace, wrapping still-shaky arms around his husband's waist. "Thank you, Cecil."

"Of course. My lovely Carlos, I'm always here."

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 'O Sleeper' by The Oh Hellos.
> 
> Writing a sickfic during These Times (capitalization intended) is likely not in the best taste, but I love these characters and I will not write a COVID-19 fic as long as I live so I present to you : Sick!Carlos, and that's on having a comfort character and a shitty immune system. 
> 
> I only have four days of online school left and I've been awake for 26 hours. (Hey Carlos from Take a Break, we're twins!) II have no idea what I'm doing at this point so prepare for my posts to either skyrocket or plummet in the next week. Which one it is depends on whether I want to get serotonin from my Goodreads goal going up or from external validation for my writing.
> 
> Anyway, I here's something I actually said to someone while writing this.
> 
> Ahem.
> 
> "Fuck canon, noodle boy main character is strong because I said so."
> 
> I know, I know, I'm very disappointing. I'll be here all week.


End file.
